Facebook Advertising: Come Sail Away

These days, making a media buy for something as simple as a weekend sale can be as awkward as listening to Betty White introduce Jay-Z.

Why?

• There are more ways to advertise than ever before.
• You still have a limited budget.
• You still need to have some faith in the traditional reach/frequency model.
• You’re not sure what your customers are listening to/watching anymore.
• You’re not entirely sure how many of them follow social networks.

Plus, you’re still buddies with your radio sales rep?

(See?  Complex.)

Your business needs a strong website that generates revenue, and a strong Facebook fan page that gets the word out to your loyal followers (though before you create one you should develop a strategy and learn all you can…start here:  http://www.sundog.net/sunblog/posts/social-media-have-a-plan/). If those are in place, then there are good reasons to consider Facebook advertising:

It can fit any budget. Start out with something reasonable, but consider the market you’re in and how much competition is out there. Facebook uses a keyword bidding system much like Google’s, and if you’re in a major metro area, or if your competition is also running a Facebook campaign, you’re going to have to budget more. Until you have better measurement in place (which you will just a few days into your first campaign), try running $50/day.

It’s oh-so-targetable. My favorite part of Facebook advertising? You’re only advertising to those who want to hear your message. 100% of those people who click-through to your website wanted to hear more about the product or sale. Comparatively, a radio 30-second spot that is trying to sell ”organically-grown vegetables” has a very-limited potential audience, and you’re still paying full-price for the spot. Facebook’s geographical and keyword targeting model has some frustrating moments for the ad-builder, but for the most part is very effective in reaching that same audience.

It will increase your fan page base. Running ads will get your name in front of many more Facebook users than ever before, which should get at least some of them to start following your fan page. Fan page fans have already decided to admit to the world that they like you, and therefore are a very captive audience. Then you can invite them to your events, interact with them to build additional loyalty, and create disciples for your business.

It’s measurable. Facebook’s analytics might not be as complicated as it could be, but for most—it’s as complicated as you want it to be. It provides you with enough information to tweak the campaign as you go, to determine your campaign’s effectiveness this time around, and to use that data to make your next campaign even better.  When you’re buying online ads, you’re measuring largely through click-through rates, and Facebook’s click-through rates (for the campaigns I’ve seen) have been higher than with our local paper’s website.

William Shedd once said, “A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” The same can be said for your ad budget, and maybe it’s time to sail the uncharted waters of Facebook advertising?